MARC ADRIAN – "In the Eye of the Beholder"

November 21, 2024 to January 4, 2025

Although 20th century art repeatedly produced an abstract, geometrical language of forms by drawing on modernism, Austrian artists interested in a constructivist, concrete or kinetic mode of expression found little resonance in the 1960s and 1970s. The depiction of movement in art became the central subject of investigation for Marc Adrian, who was described by Peter Weibel as the "father of media art". In addition to the early jumping perspectives, tilting figures in prints, structural films and mobiles, the Viennese artist developed an important cycle of works from 1955 onwards: the reverse glass montages. The activation of the viewer is included in the conception of these works. As the viewer can discover the different image perspectives by changing his position, a "moving image" is created; the optical perception changes depending on the angle of view.

From 1955 onwards, Adrian worked primarily with simple geometric shapes that could be classified as concrete art. Ten years later, the artist also included letters and words in his picture objects - visual poetry became part of the work. Adrian was the only Austrian to take part in the Op Art exhibition in 1965. The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. After a few stays in America, a bright, pop-like color scheme replaced the previously cool color concept of the reverse glass montages. With the group of works of reverse glass montages, Marc Adrian, who worked all his life on the democratization of art, irrevocably wrote himself into art history.

Constanze Luise Malissa